Research Progress on Drosophila Electron Microscopy Connectome Database and Functional Analysis of Related Neural Circuits

Abstract

In recent years, research on the electron microscopy connectome of Drosophila melanogaster has achieved major breakthroughs, providing neural circuit maps with synaptic resolution across the whole brain. This review outlines the development history of Drosophila electron microscopy connectome databases from local brain region reconstruction to comprehensive whole-brain mapping, and highlights their role in addressing three core problems in neural circuit research field: in terms of sensory information encoding, the visual system is used as an example to reveal mechanisms of motion detection and color processing; in terms of behavioral decision-making, the circuit basis underlying female mating and egg-laying choices is elucidated; and in terms of motor control, the neural mechanisms underlying courtship song pattern generation in males are analyzed. These advances reveal the relationship between structural connectivity and functional specialization, as well as mechanisms of hierarchical integration and parallel-hierarchical control of information, greatly deepening our understanding of the "structure-function" relationship in neural circuits. At the end of this article, the potential applications of electron microscope connectomes in areas such as cross-species comparison, whole-brain dynamic network modeling, and computation-experiment integration are discussed. These explorations help promote a paradigm revolution in neuroscience from local speculation to precise whole-brain analysis, provide technical templates and theoretical anchor points for connectome research in complex organisms, build a research bridge between basic neural circuits and human neurological diseases, offer biological prototypes for brain-inspired intelligent computing, and provide important insights for exploring the evolutionary laws and working mechanisms of the nervous system.

Abstract of "Research Progress on Drosophila Electron Microscopy Connectome Database and Functional Analysis of Related Neural Circuits" by DENG Xianming, WANG Fei, https://doi.org/10.12300/j.issn.1674-5817.2025.147, used under its Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY-SA); markup removed, otherwise unmodified.